Effect of [D-Trp6]LHRH infusion on prolactin secretion by perifused rat pituitary cells

Comparative aspects of GnRH-Stimulated signal transduction in the vertebrate pituitary - Contributions from teleost model systems

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is a major regulator of reproduction through actions on pituitary gonadotropin release and synthesis. Although it is often thought that pituitary cells are exposed to only one GnRH, multiple GnRH forms are delivered to the pituitary of teleost fishes; interestingly this can include the cGnRH-II form usually thought to be non-hypophysiotropic. GnRHs can regulate other pituitary cell-types, both directly as well as indirectly, and multiple GnRH receptors (GnRHRs) may also be expressed in the pituitary, and even within a single pituitary cell-type. Literature on the differential actions of native GnRH isoforms in primary pituitary cells is largely derived from teleost fishes. This review will outline the diversity and complexity of GnRH-GnRHR signal transduction found within vertebrate gonadotropes as well as extra-gonadotropic sites with special emphasis on comparative studies from fish models. The implications that GnRHR transduction mechanisms are GnRH isoform-, function-, and cell-specific are also discussed.

Effect of pulse frequency and amplitude of D-Trp6-luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone on the pulsatile secretion of prolactin and LH

This work analyzes the effect of the pulse amplitude and frequency of a potent LHRH analog, D-Trp6-LHRH, in a perfusion system of isolated rat pituitary cells. To this purpose, we studied the LH and PRL secretion in different conditions: basal secretion, secretion after increasing concentrations of D-Trp6-LHRL (0.001, 0.01, 0.1 and 1 nM) secretion in function of the pulses frequency (2,3, and 4 pulses per h) and amplitude (0.1, 1 and 10 nM). The principal findings were: 1. The basal LH and PRL secretions was pulsatile; 2. The stimulation of LH by the analog was not dose-dependent; 3. When more than 2 pulses per h were administered, a rapid desensitization of gonadotroph to release LH (at 20-30 min) occurred; 4. There was a loss of pulsatility of PRL secretion with an increase in the pulse frequency and amplitude of the D-Trp6-LHRH, which was produced parallelly to the desensitization of the gonadotroph to release LH. In summary, these findings suggest that a rapid loss of pulsatility of the PRL when the D-Trp6-LHRH pulse frequency and amplitude is increased might be due to the early desensitization of the gonadotroph to the analog.